PBoC steps up liquidity support in April
As we wrote in last month’s monitor, cutting the RRR shows the PBoC’s intention to make a permanent liquidity injection, indicating the central bank sees more than …
JPMorgan to take full control of China mutual fund JV; BlackRock, Neuberger Berman to set up mutual funds
Foreign financial institutions have been making preparations to gain control of their joint ventures and set up wholly owned companies in China since the government pledged in November 2017 to …
PBoC releases draft measures on customer reserve funds of third-party payment providers
The central clearing house has been in place for a while. These draft measures aim to clarify…
CSRC official proposes new model for CBDC
As it prepares to compete on the digital currency front, especially against private sector players like Facebook’s Libra, China is looking to pioneer a …
Prudential, CITIC set up asset management JV in Beijing
Earlier this year, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) granted a business license to the joint venture, which has …
Ant Financial and ICBC enter QR code compatibility arrangement
ICBC and the other big banks have been left in the dust by the payment systems of Alipay and rival Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat Pay, which together account for …
Bank of Jinzhou improves performance, but bad debts go up
Bank of Jinzhou, like many other regional lenders, is paying the price of years of overly rapid expansion, poor lending decisions, and weak oversight. The slowing economy has exposed these …
Oaktree awarded outbound investment quota by Beijing financial regulators
China’s policies to open its financial markets and give foreign institutions more access are mostly aimed at encouraging capital inflows. However, a few channels are…
Fresh personnel reshuffle at CBIRC
Personnel reshuffles of this type allow officials who have been in a given position or department for an extended period of time to gain a broader understanding of …
PBoC and CBIRC release draft of measures to assess rural financing
Xi Jinping’s rural revitalization strategy plays a key role in the Party’s development goals that include modernizing the economy, narrowing urban-rural inequality, raising living standards, and …
CBIRC tightens licensing oversight of non-bank financial institutions
NBFIs play a key role in providing financing for sectors that are often underserved by traditional banks or are restricted from taking out bank loans, such as real estate. However, lax regulation has led …
Two US banks to take control of their securities JVs
The approvals mark the latest in a string of financial opening measures, which we have documented in past monitors. Importantly, these moves, as well as the…
CBIRC issues new rules for insurers’ asset management products
China’s central bank and other financial regulators published the long-awaited final draft of a new regulatory framework for the asset management industry in April 2018. The aim was to …
ZhongAn narrowed losses in 2019
ZhongAn has benefited from first-mover advantage as China’s first online-only insurer and from its links with two successful internet financial services groups. But with the opening of China’s …
Hong Kong’s first online-only bank commences operation
The formal launch of ZA Bank is well timed, as the closure of brick-and-mortar outlets of many of the city’s major banks amid the COVID-19 epidemic should encourage take-up of online banking. But ZA Bank will not …
China slowly goes back to work, but challenges remain
The key issue for all businesses now is the recovery in demand. Over the past four weeks, government efforts have been focused on normalizing production and reducing supply disruptions. The goal has now shifted to …
PSBC completes first renminbi interest rate options trades on China’s interbank market
China has taken a cautious approach to developing its derivatives markets in recent years after experimentation over the past two decades led to a string of financial scandals. But the ongoing overhaul of …
Regulators to set up new holding company for AMCs
As the majority shareholder of each of the four national AMCs, the Ministry of Finance has traditionally taken a fairly hands-off approach to overseeing them. However, the corruption scandal that engulfed …
PBoC vice governor appointed chairman of CITIC Group
This is the first time in the history of CITIC Group that an outsider has been appointed chairman. This probably reflects dissatisfaction among …
J.P. Morgan’s majority-owned securities company opens for business
Foreign financial companies have finally got one of their big wishes in China – the ability to take majority stakes in joint ventures and operate wholly owned subsidiaries. JPMorgan Chase is one of several …